Richard Ballantine was born into the family that owned Ballantine Books, a New York publishing house, and so it was probably inevitable that he would become an author.

In 1972, after writing a couple of long forgotten books on non-cycling subjects, he wrote Richard’s Bicycle Book. It was an instant and unexpected success, selling over a million copies over the next decade. It also established him as the essential hero of of the ‘alternative’ cycling movement.

To add a touch of spice to Richard Ballantine’s ‘alternative’ credentials, Richard’s Bicycle Book was dedicated to ‘Samuel Joseph Melville, hero’. Sam Melville was a participant in the Weather Underground and was incarcerated for the 1969 bombing of eight buildings in New York City in protest at US involvement in the Viet Nam war. He then went on to organise prisoners in Attica Prison culminating in the legendary Attica Prison Riot of 1971. Sam Melville was shot and killed when the riot was ruthlessly put down. Sam Melville was not your usual dedicatee for a cuddly book about a harmless pastime, particularly one published in 1972. More...

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Documents sorted by date:

Richard Ballantine - Richard’s Bicycle Book

1. Date: 1979
   

2. Derailleur brands: Campagnolo, Huret, Shimano, Simplex, SunTour
   

3. Derailleurs: too numerous to list...